Not so very Big Bad Wolf
by ShadowKat-Shidobukatsu
Summary: Tumblr Prompt Kili saves Ori when he's attacked in the woods. Little Red Riding Hood AU
1. Chapter 1

Ori sighed to himself as he wandered through the woods, the basket Dori had packed for him with lunch while he was on the road to Nori's house the next village over clutched tightly to his chest. He wasn't scared, not really, just paranoid. The woods, as of late, had become rife with pickpockets, robbers, and kidnappers. Dori had made to come with him, telling Ori to stay put while he just grabbed a few more things, but the youngest of the Ri brothers was having none of it. It was the first time he'd ever been allowed to go visit his second brother for an extended stay, and he was intent on using that fact to it's full extent.

He'd just wished he hadn't been so hasty in his decision making.

He felt like eyes were watching him from the woods. Perhaps it was just the birds and other woodland creatures that were scurrying about, minding their own business, but Ori couldn't help but think, perhaps, there was something more sinister out there, simply waiting for him to let his guard down.

He shuddered and drew the hood to his violet cape up over his head, tucking his basket more closely to his chest as he continued on, hurrying his pace. He very nearly dropped his basket when a pair of heavy black boots stepped in front of him on the path, making him lift his gaze to stare wide eyed at a man with a nasty grin on his face.

"Where you off to, little one?" the man asked with a sneer, making Ori bristle and slid his foot back, so if it should come to it, he could easily maneuver and dodge around the man before him.

"My brother is expecting me," the red head said quietly, watching the man with suspicion.

"Your brother? And he let a little thing like you wander through the woods all by yourself?" The man advanced a step, so Ori quickly took one back.

"Not technically," the dwarf replied, and it was not a lie. He hadn't technically been allowed to come into the woods alone, he'd just gone and done it.

"Not technically," the man echoed, a small scowl marring his face as he glanced around the rather deserted looking woods surrounding them. "I don't see him around."

Ori swallowed thickly, very much wishing he'd grabbed something more than his sling-shot before leaving the house in a mad dash to get away from his over bearing brother. "He's expecting me," Ori simply stated again, pulling his sling-shot free of his belt and loading it with a jagged stone from his pocket under his cloak. He then quickly lifted it and fired it at the man's face, making him reel back in shock, pain, and anger. It gave Ori enough of an opening to dodge around the man off the path, and begin running as fast as his legs could carry him.

"GET BACK HERE, YOU LITTLE BRAT!"

The man's shouts of anger and abuse, along with his heavy foot falls followed Ori through the woods as he ran, his lungs already beginning to sting from overuse. He hadn't had to run this much, really, ever. He made a vow then, to stop sitting at his desk for so long pouring over books and drawings and get out to train and exercise a bit more. Especially if he managed to escape this man, who would probably either kill him for having no money, or sell him off to slavers. Neither was a very promising prospect for the young dwarf.

Ori finally skidded to a stop once he hit a large out-cropping of rock, accidentally boxing himself in by running into the formation blindly. He gasped for air, looking around frantically for a way to escape, when the man finally caught up to him, a nasty, foreboding grin on the man's face when he spotted the trapped dwarf.

"Looks like someone got a little lost," the man commented, chuckling darkly as he began to advance on Ori, who pressed himself back against the rock, doing his best to swallow down his fear.

It was a short lived suspense for the dwarf, wondering what would become of him, as something, or someone, jumped from the top of the rocks, tackling the man to the ground. Ori gaped as whatever had jumped wrestled around on the ground for a time with the man, before finally the man went limp on the ground, and Ori's savior stood.

The red head couldn't help but gape at the boy (because he could be no older than Ori, himself) that stood before him. He was the same height as Ori, with a similar build to that of a dwarf, if a bit slimmer. Choppy, dark hair, and piercing brown eyes. But, the thing that caught Ori's attention, truly, were the twin set of twitching wolf ears that adorned the other's head.

"Are you all right?" the stranger asked, stepping towards Ori, "He didn't hurt you, did he?"

Ori continued to stare at his savior for a good long minute, before suddenly remembering the manners that Dori had all but beaten into his head, jerking to attention and offering up a wobbly smile. "Oh! No, I'm perfectly fine, if a bit winded," he said quickly, blushing when he realized just how long he'd been staring, if the awkward way the other way holding himself was any indication, "Thank you for saving me."

The boy grinned widely when Ori finally spoke, nodding happily. "Not a worry. Kili, at your service," the boy said, bowing to Ori quickly, before straightening, and gesturing for the dwarf to follow, "We'd better leave this place, though. He'll not be unconscious for too horribly long."

Ori nodded dumbly. "Ori," the red head replied, following Kili through the woods, his attention trained back on the wolf ears, before he noticed the swishing, fluffy brown wolf tail protruding from beneath the boy's jacket.

"You have a tail!" Ori blurted, freezing in his steps once he'd come to realize what he'd just practically shouted to the whole world, covering his mouth with a hand in embarrassment.

Kili turned, arching an eyebrow at Ori, before glancing over his shoulder at his tail, then back to the red-head. "Yes," Kili said, drawing out the 'e' sound, and turning the simple word into a question, as if having a tail and ears was the most normal thing.

"But, that's not normal," Ori blurted, too stunned by Kili's nonchalance about it to remember his manners, "I mean…Who has ears and a tail? It's-I've never heard of such a thing."

Kili chuckled, moving to flop down onto a rather flat rock, while gesturing for Ori to do the same. They were obviously going to get nowhere until his story was told. The red head moved to sit across from Kili on a rock, settling himself in. Ori held up a finger when Kili opened his mouth to begin speaking, flashing the other a brief smile, as he dug a couple of sandwiches out of his basket, offering one to Kili.

"Oh. Thank you," Kili said in mild surprise, offering Ori a kind smile and taking a bite, before he began. "My family is of the line of Durin. We were once a proud and noble clan, descended from royalty. Alas, when my great grandfather fell to an illness of the mind, he paid great insult to a mighty witch, who cast a curse upon our house. My uncle and mother, they has the worst of it, having been present at the time of the curse. They turn into full wolves on full moons. My brother and I, thankfully for our diluted blood, I think, we simply have the tail and ears. Because of this, though, and the dangers that can be present not only for ourselves, but others that may be around when the moon turns full, we hide in these woods. You were lucky today, really. I have been sworn to keep from interfering with those who travel through our woods, so as to keep from being seen, and my family discovered. But, I saw you running, and knew nothing good would come if I did not intervene."

Ori sat through Kili's speech, sandwich all but forgotten in his lap, whereas Kili had nibbled on his own during his story.

"So, you are a dwarf, then. Just..with extra bits," the red head offered, tilting his head a little, causing Kili to let out a bark of a laugh.

"Yes, I suppose you could simplify it that way."

Ori nodded thoughtfully, before shaking his head slightly and packing his sandwich back into his basket and rising to his feet. He offered Kili a smile and his hand, helping the other back to his feet as well.

"Well then, master Kili. Thank you for saving me. I greatly appreciate it. Perhaps you would not be disinclined to accompany me the rest of the way through the woods?"

Kili looked a bit startled by Ori's request for company, but an easy smile slid across his face as he nodded. "I would enjoy that, very much, I think."

Ori smiled brightly, gesturing for the other to lead the way, since they had yet to get back to the path, and Ori didn't much fancy getting lost.

~

"Here I must leave you," Kili finally said as the edge of the forest began to come into view, at least a good thirty or forty yards ahead. he looked just as disappointed as Ori felt at their parting.

"Perhaps, once my trip is over, you would like to walk with me back home?" Ori offered with a timid smile, "I'll only be here for a week."

Kili perked up, his tail swishing slowly behind him, making Ori suppress a laugh at the unconscious show of happiness. "I would like that, very much," he agreed with a nod, taking up Ori's hand to press a light kiss to the back of it. "Fair well, Ori."

Ori laughed a little, bowing to Kili in the same fashion the other had done upon their meeting. "I will see you in a week."

"I look forward to it."


	2. Chapter 2

Kili grinned as he bounded through the woods, back to his family's tiny cabin, nestled neatly in between several trees with vines growing up along the sides. Several wild bushes of flowers had taken up residence over the years since Kili and his brother had been born, aiding in the natural camouflage of the house.

"Fili!" Kili chirpped, pouncing on his older brother once he was in the yard, grinning like a wild thing as the two went tumbling to the ground in a heap.

"You are so lucky I didn't have my axe in hand," Fili grouched, shoving his jittering younger brother off his chest once they had stopped rolling through the grass and leaves, letting out an indignant huff as he began to pick decaying leaves out of his hair.

"I saw you put it down before I jumped you," Kili replied with an easy smirk, his tail swishing excitedly behind him as he watched his elder brother fuss with his hair. "Guess what?"

Fili let out a quiet 'tsk' at the state of his hair, deciding it would be best to simply brush it out later, once he was safely inside, and Kili couldn't tackle him into any more dirt and debris. He glanced up at his brother's excited question, arching an eyebrow, his own golden wolf ears perking forward in curiosity. "What?"

Kili leaned forward, looking around them quickly to make sure their mother and uncle were nowhere to be found, before whispering conspiratorially, "I've just met a boy."

Fili gaped at his younger brother, staring at him with wide eyes for but a moment, before smacking the younger upside the head with a scowl. "What did you just say?!" he snapped, looking around as well, before grabbing Kili by the arm and dragging him away from the house.

"Ow, ow! Fili, stop! You're hurting me!"

Once the blonde was certain they were far enough away from the house that they wouldn't be overheard, Fili let go of his brother, rounding on him with a glowering scowl. "What have you done?" he hissed, hands on his hips.

Kili had the sense to look a bit abashed, scuffing his foot into the ground, ducking his head slightly. "Uhm…I met a boy? He was being chased by a man who was surely going to hurt him, so I…intervened. We ran before the man could regain consciousness though, so I know we're perfectly safe. He didn't get a good look at me."

Fili growled, punching his brother roughly in the arm, making Kili whine and shy away from him. "You idiot! The boy! He saw you, though, didn't he?! You know we can't trust outsiders! That's why we live in the woods in the first place! If he goes and blabs about you, then you know we can either expect to be run out of these woods, or someone to come hoping to catch us! Not to mention the danger that might happen not only for us, but to others, if anyone comes at night during on of mother's or uncle's transformations!"

Kili swallowed thickly, his ears pressed down against his scalp, tail curved around one of his legs. "He's different. He won't tell."

"And how do you know?! You've just put us all in danger, Kili, because you decided to play hero!"

"He was going to get hurt!"

"So what?!"

Kili stared at his older brother in surprise, jaw slack. "You can't mean that," he murmured, "Sure, we let people get robbed and stuff, that's none of our business. But that man, he was going to seriously hurt my friend. He very likely may have killed him if I hadn't helped him."

Fili sighed, scrubbing his hands over his face while pacing back and forth a little. "He's not your friend, Kili, you only just met him," he grumbled into his hands, before finally stopping and staring his brother down. "All right, so it's true, the man killing the boy would have been bad, but really, Kili. You didn't even know him. Why did you risk us, just to save someone you didn't even know?"

"He's a dwarf, actually," Kili finally corrected, clearing his throat a little as he shuffled his feet awkwardly. "And I saved him because, well, because I'm tired of it only being us. I'm so tired of having to run and hide if we hear hikers, or those who are lost. I'm tired of Uncle looking so worn out and upset after full moons. I'm tired of the pitying looks mother gives us when she thinks we aren't looking. Fili. We're not going to break our curse by sitting in these woods until the day we die. We need to meet outsiders, and get them to help us. We need to let ourselves be seen." Kili paused for a moment, taking a short breath, before offering his brother a tiny, hesitant smile. "He's going to be traveling back through the woods in a week. You can come with me to walk with him? So you can meet him for yourself."

The blonde watched Kili for a good long minute or two, before letting out a gust of air from his lungs and shaking his head. "I will come with you, if only to make sure you weren't too foolish in your sharing of our secret."

Kili grinned widely at Fili, surging forward to capture him in a hug. "You won't regret it, Fili! He's really a very sweet dwarfling! You'll like him, I promise!"


End file.
